Principles of Design

Final Review

Principles of Design

• Pattern• Balance• Movement• Rhythm

• Emphasis• Contrast• Unity/Harmony

PaTtErN

• A repeating of an element within a composition or section of composition

• Examples: Repeated shapes within a quilt; repeated arch ways on the façade of a building; strips or spots on an animal

*Many animals have many different patterns on their body created by stripes and/or spots

Notre Dame CathedralParis, France

• Chrysler Building, New York, New York William Van Allen

*Artists use Pattern within their artwork to add excitement and movement to the composition

• Chuck Close, Emmadetail of

selection

• Jasper Johns, Numbers in Color

Balance

• Balance in visual art can be formal, informal and radial.

• Formal balance places equal or very similar objects on either side of a central axis.

• In radial balance, equal or similar objects radiate from a central point.

• Informal balance is a balance of unlike objects.

Formal Balance: Symmetry

Informal Balance: Asymmetry

Radial Balance

Movement

• Visual direction created by elements of Art arranged in an organized way

• This can be achieved by using Pattern or repeated a single shape several times

Rhythm• Rhythm is the repetition of visual

movement – colors, shapes, or lines

• Variety is essential to keep Rhythms exciting and active to the viewer

• Marcel Duchamp,

Nude Descending a Staircase

Emphasis

• Emphasis is used to create dominance and focus in an artwork

• Artists can emphasize color, value, shapes, or other art elements to achieve dominance

• Various kinds of contrast can be used to emphasize a center of interest

Contrast• Contrast refers to differences in

values, colors, textures, shapes, and other elements

• Contrasts create visual excitement and add interest to the work

• If all the art elements are the same, the result is unexciting and boring to the viewer

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Value Scale

Unity/Harmony• Unity provides the cohesive quality that

makes an artwork feel complete and finished

• Unity is achieved when all the elements in a work look as though they belong together

• One way to do this is by clustering elements together within an artwork

• What Elements make these Unified and Harmonious???

Let’s point out all or as many Principles of Design as possible in Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper.

• Pattern, Balance, Movement, Rhythm, Emphasis, Contrast, Unity